The Five Lanterns

History

893 IE – The Year of Darkness and Vile Treachery – Emperor Angsiyan is dead by the hand of Ichiro Gokai. Ichiro killed his lord in the sight of gods and men, then fled with the Emperor’s blade Kusanagi. Nine warriors pursued the traitor. They found him on the roof of the Harvest Temple, holding the Emperor’s blood-stained sword. The righteous warriors attacked Ichiro and slew the forsaken cur.Ichiro’s last breath came forth as a dark wind. Everything it touched became frozen – the tall waves of the Midori Sea turned to pale jade; the branches of the Eko Forest turned to grey stone. People say that the Nine Avengers froze as well, standing around Ichiro’s corpse with blades drawn. But the Black Wind did not stop. It swept outwards to the very edges of our fair land and encircled it, eating at the very essence of our magic. The Black Wind has destroyed our planar gates and spells. It has cut our ties with the rest of the universe.Was this the punishment of the gods? Farmers have ruined crops in their panic, and trapped refugees from other worlds crowd cities. It seems that nature itself rages at the death of the emperor; fishermen speak of deadly typhoons, the ground trembles, and mountains spew fire. I pray that these troubles may resolve soon and look for omens in the stars.

Sima Quian, The Imperial Histories

Welcome to Khitan – a land of magic, dragons, and samurai. Khitan is a collection of various peoples – humans, dwarves, elves, halflings, and dragonborn – nominally united under the rule of the Seido dynasty. However, the monolithic power of the empire is fraying at the edges. Khitan has always depended on inter-planar trade for wealth and prosperity, but after an event known as “The Day of Black Wind”, all gateways and magics that allowed travel to other planes have stopped functioning. For the last 196 years, Khitan has been isolated from the rest of the multiverse. The Seido dynasty is weak, and a dowager-Empress rules in the name of a child heir. Clan warlords carve up pieces of their own domains and raise personal armies. Descendants of planar refugees banished to distant colonies are unifying and voicing their discontent, sometimes violently. Khitan is changing, and a few powerful individuals can determine the fates of millions.